leave it to Casey to wait for a 13 point defecit before pulling the plug on the backups. ffs

Nah, didn't matter. This team was done in by a fragile confidence and when you are a jump shooting team that'll kill you everytime. Jumpers stop dropping, everyone starts rushing and the ball stops moving as everyone tries to be the hero.

That being said, Lowry was god awful. His turnovers sealed the deal after that second unit shit the bed. Jose has played awful lately. Quick shots, bad passes, leaving his feet. Dunno what's up with him but he needs to get his game straight. Casey needs to throw out the offense and go back to all d. This squad can't get through droughts because they don't defend and just keep trying to shoot their way out. It's tough when there's obviously no trust in the system or the players. While he's at it some study of his late game management is in order.

We always knew they were going to lose to the clippers. But playing solid defense and staying close the entire game till the 4th and then being blown out because your coach makes stupid decisions ... sucks! Casey kept the starters in too long and gassed them out, and because he didn't play his bench they were cold which equates to a 10 pt 4th quarter.

I really dont know what to expect for this Raptors team...whatever happens, happens.

alexaussie wrote:

Losses. Expect plenty of losses.

To build on this also expect a large amount of depression, followed by a number of terrible contracts, players wanting to quit and losing the will to play, in turn a large contract extension to our GM who moreover provides an unskilled coach with a similar extension. Then moving into the following season your depression will be slightly replaced with some optimism over a number of well crafted lies and unreasonable expectations. You should then expect this optimism to be quickly washed away with a tidal wave of depression as the losses mount up, and the cycle continues.

"You know we've had injuries, tough schedule, young team but we're not making excuses......" Really? Could have thought you just gave 3. But to humour you, lets address them: Injuries? Everyone has them and the Raps have minimal talent drop off after DD on the wing. Tough schedule? So what - it only highlights the team is THAT bad with a low ceiling. Young team? Raps are no younger than 16 other NBA teams. Interesting how he keeps talking about talent is not the issue. I respectfully disagree but what do I know. I also like how he is starting to shift the focus on to Casey - very subtly but evident.

Jump shots:

The Raptors have never met a jump shot they did not like.

Offense:

Lets see if I can do something. Nope. Your turn.
Nope, I got nothing. Bounce, bounce, bounce. Alright who is next?
Does anyone else notice how quick the ball moves with the better teams? The Spurs, Clippers, hell even the Suns just keep moving the ball until they get a good shot. It is frustrating. I'm not an NBA player or coach but I've played and I've coached and this is something my teams have always done - move the ball, make the defense work, if you don't have something get rid of it quickly, don't stand still. DAMMIT!

Positives:

1) They waited until the 4th quarter to get blown out.
2) DeRozan

Negatives:

1) Amir. Nice stat line but he defense was shit. Turiaf? C'mon man!
2) JV looking more like a rookie of late. DeAndre Jordan is tough match up for him though.
3) 15 shots for 12 points. Guess who!
4) Ross - second guessing himself on shots. Missed 2 or 3 wide open looks because he thought about it first.

"You know we've had injuries, tough schedule, young team but we're not making excuses......" Really? Could have thought you just gave 3. But to humour you, lets address them: Injuries? Everyone has them and the Raps have minimal talent drop off after DD on the wing. Tough schedule? So what - it only highlights the team is THAT bad with a low ceiling. Young team? Raps are no younger than 16 other NBA teams. Interesting how he keeps talking about talent is not the issue. I respectfully disagree but what do I know. I also like how he is starting to shift the focus on to Casey - very subtly but evident.

Jump shots:

The Raptors have never met a jump shot they did not like.

Offense:

Lets see if I can do something. Nope. Your turn.
Nope, I got nothing. Bounce, bounce, bounce. Alright who is next?
Does anyone else notice how quick the ball moves with the better teams? The Spurs, Clippers, hell even the Suns just keep moving the ball until they get a good shot. It is frustrating. I'm not an NBA player or coach but I've played and I've coached and this is something my teams have always done - move the ball, make the defense work, if you don't have something get rid of it quickly, don't stand still. DAMMIT!

Positives:

1) They waited until the 4th quarter to get blown out.
2) DeRozan

Negatives:

1) Amir. Nice stat line but he defense was shit. Turiaf? C'mon man!
2) JV looking more like a rookie of late. DeAndre Jordan is tough match up for him though.
3) 15 shots for 12 points. Guess who!
4) Ross - second guessing himself on shots. Missed 2 or 3 wide open looks because he thought about it first.

Conclusion:

The Raptors aren't a good team as currently constructed.

+ 1

Ball movement is very important in basketball. Teams who execute this aspect tend to do well in the season. Sometimes, great ball movement can even trump talent as evident by the San Antonio Spurs' bench.

George Karl stresses this on his players. "You have three options: you PASS, you SHOOT or you DRIVE. Don't ever hold the ball." It's pretty reflective of his team.

Casey's approach on offense is too methodical, slow and predictable. When they do movement because of a set play, it doesn't move with a purpose. I think it's the reason why I've been turned off with this team. It's hard to watch that type of offense.

He needs to open up the offense some more and give players a bit of freedom. His approach is way too structured - OPTION #1, OPTION #2, OPTION #3. More side to side movement, more drive and kick.

Last edited by torch19; Sun Dec 9th, 2012 at 08:47 PM.

“I don’t create controversies. They’re there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention.”

Same old story can't play 48 min. period!!!! They really are a joke when it comes to being a basketball team! There was so much hope for this team before the year started; now it is just one lost after another. They show the fans no hope for the future and soon the ACC will be empty as far as fans going to games!! You can see it starting to happen now at the games, as I am a season ticket holder!! Their biggest problem is they just can't play 48 min like other teams do all the time. They have no idea of how to close a game. Barg's has to go; he is too soft and for every 30 points he may score he gives up 35. He plays with no emotion at all!!!! We don't need players who don't play with emotion!! The raptor fans have been promised the playoffs for far too long!! It is time to produce and take the team to the playoffs. It is time to reward your fans. The Raptor's last year played with more emotion and better defense then this year. They look lost out there!!!Time for some major changes. Spend some money MLSE reward the fans......PERIOD !!!!!

Toronto leads the league in back to backs with 6. Toronto has also played the most playoff teams from last season and have played more road games than any other team. The first 21 games of their schedule are brutal but then the raptors have one of the easiest schedule from then on. Lucky for them today is game 21. Hopefully we can start to see the raptors we all anticipated starting with an upset against LA today.
Discuss.

what a load.

This team is lead by a terrible coach and built around a terrible player with a terrible GM.